Unidentified aircraft struck a gold mine in the mountainous Border Triangle Area on Saturday morning, killing at least 13 people and injuring 28 others, according to the Sudan Doctors Network. Abdel-Aziz Yousef, a survivor who fled the scene, told The Associated Press that the strike hit early in the day, forcing a chaotic evacuation as miners feared follow-up attacks.
The Sudan Doctors Network warned that the casualty count will likely climb, citing critical shortages of medical supplies and the difficult terrain that hampers evacuation efforts. Several survivors are in serious condition, yet the nearest functional hospitals are hours away in a conflict-ridden zone where infrastructure has crumbled.
Egyptian authorities have repeatedly ordered miners to evacuate the area, which the state claims is part of its sovereign territory. In June, Egyptian security forces detained hundreds of individuals, including foreign nationals, along the Sudanese border for alleged involvement in illegal extraction and smuggling. The gold trade is a primary funding source for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with a 2024 UN Panel of Experts report estimating that over 50% of Sudan’s mined gold is smuggled out of the country.
Diplomatic channels have not yet confirmed which state launched the strike, leaving the incident in a fog of ambiguity that could further destabilize the fragile ceasefire dynamics in the region. The next 48 hours will likely see a surge in investigative efforts by both Khartoum and Cairo to determine responsibility and manage the political fallout.